


you fit my broken pieces perfectly

by ohallows



Series: femslash week 2020 [4]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Broken Bones, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, all the boys are in the bg, also implied zolfhamid bc. me., class swap, it’s mostly comfort ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23327674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohallows/pseuds/ohallows
Summary: Now, her magic, always so ready to strike out and protect her, is coiled up somewhere deep inside her chest, just out of Sasha’s reach. She knows, with a certainty borne from years of pushing limits and testing her endurance, that if she even tried to reach for her magic right now it would recoil, curl away deeper, farther away from her. There’s nothing she can do - she just has to wait for it to come back on its own.But. She’s still standing in the corridor with Azu, and Azu is still looking at her with concern, and another emotion Sasha doesn’t feel comfortable enough to categorize.
Relationships: Azu/Sasha Racket
Series: femslash week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672582
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31
Collections: RQG Femslash Week 2020





	you fit my broken pieces perfectly

**Author's Note:**

> GIVE IT UP FOR DAY 5 - h/c
> 
> anyways pretend this is a class swap au where sasha is a wizard rogue and azu is a fighter instead of a paladin so she doesn’t have healing magic. i didn’t want to worldbuild. this fits the prompt vaguely but hey i’m ⅓ of the creators of this entire week so. we good
> 
> (also just for fun: hamid is a bard (sorry bryn), grizzop is a ranger, cel is a druid, and zolf is a monk bc i find it funny. cel doesn’t actually show up but it’s a good concept)

“Does it hurt?” Azu asks quietly, using the last bit of bandages from her bag to bind Sasha’s ankle. She’s being careful, rough hands cradling Sasha’s foot and leg more gently than Sasha thinks she’s ever been touched. 

“Er - not too bad, anymore,” Sasha mumbles. “Feels - the bandages helped, I think. With the swelling.” 

“Good,” Azu says, and holds the edge of the bandage down. “Can you hold this, please?” 

Sasha nods and reaches over, pressing the bandage down to keep it in place as Azu roots through her bag for something to keep it there. She frowns and sighs, and Sasha glances over at her. “Something wrong?”

“I can’t find something to secure it with,” Azu says, frowning. “Don’t worry, I know what to do.” She takes the bandage back from Sasha and wraps it around one more time, before starting to tie it off so that the bandages won’t slip off her ankle. 

“Where’d you learn how to do all this, anyway?” Sasha asks, wincing a bit as Azu pulls the bandage a bit too tightly.

“My apologies,” she murmurs, and begins carefully tying the end of the bandage off to keep it from sliding. “In my village in Kenya, there was only one healer. Her name was Dhakiya, and she was one of the oldest orcs in the village. My older brother would always injure himself playing in the fields, and sometimes she would be busy with others and not be able to see to him. I asked her to show me how to treat a number of injuries so that I could just help Emeka instead of having to wait.”

“You’re - you’re well good at it,” Sasha says, and Azu glances up at her with a shy look in her eyes, a slight blush on her cheeks. “I mean - I - I don’t got much to compare it to, but my ankle feels a bit better, anyway, and er - yeah. Thanks.”

“I’m sorry we ran out of health potions,” Azu says, and finishes bandaging it with a tight knot. “I wish there was more I could do.” 

“You’ve done more than enough, really,” Sasha says, and hops off the table carefully. She tests her weight on her ankle and it still stings, but not enough that she can’t walk. Whatever poultice Azu had applied to her ankle has made it feel mostly numb, and the bandage is tight enough that Sasha isn’t worried that she’s going to hurt herself more. “Wow, er - cheers, this - feels good.”

Azu’s entire face lights up at that, a bright smile that sets Sasha’s heart beating faster. She looks away, not completely sure how to handle it, and wraps her arms around herself.

“Do you mind if I walk you back to your room?” Azu asks, an uncharacteristic reservedness in her voice as she stands there, twisting a small strip of bandage around her hands. She’s carefully not looking at Sasha when Sasha glances back at her, but Sasha can still see the slight blush on her cheeks. “It’s not - it’s only that I’m worried your ankle will hurt again, and I don’t want you to accidentally injure it further.”

“Er - sure,” Sasha says, trying for casual and then trying to ignore the shine of relief in Azu’s eyes when she turns back to face her. “Thanks.”

Azu holds open the door for her as Sasha hobbles through, careful not to put weight on her bum ankle for too long as she takes small steps. Azu hovers next to her, constantly seeming like she’s on the edge of offering to help, but Sasha is glad she isn’t. Eventually, she calms down a bit, just matching Sasha’s pace as she walks next to her. 

At least, until Sasha stumbles, catching herself on the wall as a shot of pain lances up her leg. She swears quietly under her breath, and in a moment Azu is next to her, hands fluttering anxiously even as she doesn’t reach out to touch Sasha. 

“Are you alright?” she asks, and Sasha grunts and shakes her head.

“Think, er - think my ankle’s had about enough of walking,” she mutters, and leans her shoulder against the wall to keep her weight only on her uninjured foot. “Do - d’you mind?” 

She reaches a hand out to Azu, asking silently for Azu to help support her as they walk back to her room, and Azu nods.

“Of course, Sasha,” Azu says, and comes over, taking her hand. She gasps the second her hand comes in contact, and almost drops her grip. “Sasha, you’re  _ freezing _ ,” she says, frowning as she looks down at her. 

Sasha averts her eyes, uncomfortable with the eye contact, and bites the inside of her cheek. She knows she’s shivering, knows that the tips of her fingers are like ice where Azu holds them, and shrugs. 

“It’s fine,” she mutters, pulling her hands back from Azu’s grip, and wraps them around her stomach. She  _ knows _ she’s cold, knows that there’s something intrinsic missing from her, something that a bandage won’t be able to fix. It’s the magic, retreated deep inside her chest, that’s left her bereft. She feels… empty. Lost, almost, left behind in the cold with nothing to protect her. They haven’t had enough time to rest yet, not enough time after the fight for Sasha to feel  _ whole _ again. 

It had been a heated battle; Zolf had gone down protecting Hamid from a terrifying eldritch blast, and Hamid had been on his knees and singing to the high heavens to protect Zolf while Grizzop had shot the thing full of arrows from somewhere even Sasha couldn’t  _ see.  _ Azu had charged in while Hamid sang over Zolf, hands pressed to his chest as tears slipped down his face, and then Sasha had screamed as Azu got hit and lay down, not moving. 

She’d been exhausted, barely able to keep moving, but she’d still charged forward, vengeance somehow overtaking desperation at the front of her mind, and cast as many spells as she could at the creature, eternally supported by Grizzop. He’d kept his distance, but his arrows kept striking true, shocking the monster enough that Sasha could get a number of spells off, a barrage of magic fueled by rage, but then she’d reached and  _ reached  _ and come up wanting, magical energy depleted to nothing. 

The monster had swept at her, and she’d leapt out of the way. She hurt her ankle as she landed, stumbling, and there on the ground, staring up at the creature, Sasha had clawed the magic out of her chest. It had felt like she was ripping herself open, scraping the edges of her magic until there was nothing left, but it had been enough, and the creature had finally,  _ finally  _ fallen. 

Sasha had laid there in the dirt, gasping up at the sky, and had refused help until Zolf had come over and, without asking, hoisted her over his shoulders and told her to stop trying to tough it out. He’s the only one who’d ever be able to get away with it, but Sasha hadn’t said anything in response. Thankfully, one look from him had gotten everyone else to stop offering, even if Hamid and Azu had continued to give her worried looks all the way back to the small inn they were staying at. 

Zolf hadn't completely let her off the hook; instead of going back to her room, he’d taken her straight to the med bay and left her there, stonewalling when Sasha started to complain, leaving her there to pout. He’d spoken quietly to Azu on the way out, and then Hamid had dragged him away to their room, giving Sasha an encouraging smile and clinging on to Zolf’s hand with white knuckles. It’s how he gets, anytime one of them goes down, needing to reassure himself that they’re still here, still okay. 

Regardless, they’d left, leaving Sasha in Azu’s careful hands. 

Now, her magic, always so ready to strike out and protect her, is coiled up somewhere deep inside her chest, just out of Sasha’s reach. She knows, with a certainty borne from years of pushing limits and testing her endurance, that if she even tried to reach for her magic right now it would recoil, curl away deeper, farther away from her. There’s nothing she can do - she just has to wait for it to come back on its own. 

But. She’s still standing in the corridor with Azu, and Azu is still looking at her with concern, and another emotion Sasha doesn’t feel comfortable enough to categorize.

Azu reaches forward and pauses; Sasha doesn’t protest, and Azu rests her hand against Sasha’s forehead. “Sasha, you’re dangerously cold - I’m sorry I didn’t notice earlier, but you need some warmth.” 

“I’m  _ fine,”  _ Sasha grits out, and leans away from Azu’s hand. Azu’s face hardens, mouth pressing together in a stubborn line. 

“You’re not,” she says, folding her arms, and Sasha just looks up at her balefully. “I know - I’m worried about you. You’re - you’re  _ important,  _ and I want to be sure you’re alright.”

Sasha doesn’t know how to believe her, but Azu’s staring at her with nothing but pleading and worry in her eyes, so Sasha just sighs. 

“...Fine,” Sasha says, and reaches her hand out to Azu. Azu smiles at her gratefully and wraps her arm around her neck. 

It’s an awkward walk back to Sasha’s room, and on more than one occasion Azu offers to pick her up, which Sasha treats with a sharp glare until Azu relents. 

Finally,  _ finally _ , they make it back to her room. It’s dark inside, sun having long since set, and Azu carefully helps Sasha inside, setting her down on the bed. She goes over toward the fireplace and throws some logs on the fire before using some flint to get it roaring, heat and light slowly spreading through the room. She comes back and kneels down at Sasha’s side, motioning toward her ankle. 

“Do you mind if I check?” she asks, and waits for Sasha’s nod before carefully lifting her foot up. 

Sasha has to bite back a wince; it’s not Azu’s fault, not at all, but she’d definitely aggravated it on the walk back. Azu seems to come to the same conclusion, mouth pressed together in a tight line.

“Sorry,” Sasha mutters, pulling her other knee up to her chest and wrapping her arms around it.

Azu looks up, shocked. “Why are you apologizing?”

Sasha gestures down at the bandage. “I messed it up. Didn’t mean to hurt myself more. Should have listened to you.”

“Sasha, I - I’m not mad at you,” Azu says, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to imply -“

“No, you - you didn’t,” Sasha cuts her off. “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Azu says, but it’s gentle. “It doesn't matter much, anyway; we can buy some more healing potions tomorrow and you’ll be alright. I’m - well, honestly, I’m more worried about your temperature.”

“I’ll be  _ fine _ , Azu, really -“ Sasha tries, but Azu just shakes her head. 

“You need to get warmer,” Azu insists, and Sasha sighs. She should have known Azu wouldn’t give up that easily. “Sharing body heat is the quickest way to do so, but I know you aren’t comfortable with that…” Azu trails off, brow scrunching up.

Sasha sighs. “I - er, I. Might be okay with that. It’s - it’s not all bad, laying next to someone you trust.”

“Then… do you mind if I stay?” Azu asks, face carefully hiding any of her emotions. “I’m - Sasha, you’re still freezing, and you won’t stop shaking. Will you let me help you?” 

Sasha looks at her, trying to find any evidence of an ulterior motive. People don’t - people don’t just  _ help  _ her, that’s not how this works. People help her because they  _ need _ her, because she has to be  _ useful,  _ not because they care.

Except, Zolf, who’s constantly dragging her away and out of danger and keeping her safe because he  _ wants  _ to protect her, because he cares.

Except, Hamid, who sings her lullabies when neither of them can sleep, until Sasha’s anxiety is keyed low enough that she can lay down without feeling like she’s going to shiver out of her skin.

Except, Grizzop, who’s offered to show Sasha how to shoot a bow more times than necessary, and sounded so  _ excited  _ to show her when she finally agreed to it. 

Maybe… maybe Azu only wants to help her, too. And, gods. Azu is  _ terrible  _ at lying, absolutely atrocious, and Sasha would know if she were. But there’s nothing but a desire to  _ help _ in her eyes, and so eventually, Sasha nods.

Azu lets her move them around - not physically, because Sasha doesn’t think she could move Azu that much if she tried, but she listens to Sasha and respects her space. They end up with Azu’s arm draped over Sasha’s waist as Sasha stays a few inches away. It’s close enough that she can feel the heat coming from Azu, and she shivers. She had been freezing; Azu hadn’t been exaggerating. 

She pulls the covers up to her chin, covering herself and Azu, and already, she feels warmer, tips of her fingers not halfway to hypothermia anymore. Still, there’s a cold pit somewhere in her chest, somewhere she doesn’t think Azu can reach. Azu falls asleep first, soft breaths tickling the back of Sasha’s neck; it’s more comforting than she thought it would be, and she shuts her eyes, tension slowly bleeding out of her shoulders and back.

Sasha… sleeps, much easier than she thought she would, kept safe in Azu’s embrace. Her dreams are a dark void, unremembered and unimportant - a far cry from the nightmares that usually plague her after she uses too much of her magic. She sleeps  _ longer  _ than she thought, as well, and wakes up when the sun is high in the sky, back pressed to Azu’s chest. 

Azu’s arm is wrapped loosely over her waist, and Sasha can hear quiet snores coming from behind her. Careful not to wake Azu up, she twists until they’re face to face and Sasha can examine her up close. She looks as gentle in sleep as she does anytime outside battle. There’s a small nick near her temple, and a few bruises starting to discolor her cheek. It’s nothing a few of Hamid’s spells or healing potions won’t fix, but Sasha still bites her lips as she stares at the injuries. 

She reaches forward, as delicate as she knows how, and brushes her fingers against Azu’s jaw, where there are a few fading scrapes from where she hit the ground. Azu mumbles something in her sleep, and Sasha yanks her hand back. Azu doesn’t move, continuing to sleep, and Sasha just… watches, for a while.

Eventually, she wakes up, soft smile pulling at her cheeks as she sees Sasha laying there, close enough that their noses nearly brush. 

“Mm. Morning,” Azu murmurs, blinking in the sun that streams in from the curtains. “Are you feeling better?” 

Sasha nods, and feels her heartbeat kick up a notch as Azu yawns and stretches, muscles only looking  _ more  _ impressive in the early morning light. 

“Did… did you sleep well?” Sasha whispers back, swallowing heavily, and Azu nods. Neither of them speak for a moment as Azu turns back to her, and the air between them is charged with electricity, as though they’re both standing on the edge of a precipice and unsure if the wind will catch them if they fall. 

Azu makes the leap first. She’s always been the braver one, anyway.

“Can I kiss you?” she whispers, and Sasha opens and closes her mouth for a moment before nodding, deciding to do away with words for the moment. She doesn’t give Azu a chance to react, leaning forward and grabbing Azu’s collar to pull her closer. It’s not a perfect kiss, not at first - Azu had been about to speak, and their teeth clack together, and Azu’s tusks are in the way, but it still makes the magic thrum through Sasha’s veins. And then Azu’s hand is on her cheek, tilting her face, and their lips slot perfectly together. It’s not - it’s not explosions, not like how Sasha always thought it would be, not like how her magic feels as she cuts through enemies. It’s - it’s  _ soft,  _ softer than anything Sasha’s ever felt, softer than anything she ever thought she’d be able to have.

She gasps into the kiss and curls toward Azu, who immediately pulls Sasha closer. Her one hand is trapped between their bodies, and her other hand makes its way to rest on the back of Azu’s neck as she presses in. 

They still need to  _ breathe _ , of course, and Sasha pulls back, breathing heavily, eyes closed. 

“ _ Oh _ ,” Azu says, breathless, and Sasha can’t help the awkward laugh that spills out of her mouth. She knows her face must be completely red by this point, but Azu looks like a dream lying across from her. “That was -“

“Good?” Sasha suggests lamely, quirking an eyebrow up. Azu chuckles.

“Incredible,” she says, and rubs her thumb against Sasha’s cheek. They’re still close, breaths mingling in the space between them as Azu presses her forehead to Sasha’s. “You’re not cold anymore.”

“No, I - I think my magic is back,” she says, not reaching for it yet. She wants to savor this, this entire moment here with Azu, and closes her eyes, electing to stay there for as long as they can before Grizzop comes looking for them. 

“We should get up,” Sasha finally says. She reaches down into her magic, cautiously, and it’s there just as it always is, responding excitedly as she summons her coat from the chair. It dances over slowly, and Sasha leans in to press a quick kiss to Azu’s lips before slipping out of the bed and getting changed, pulling her leather jacket on last. 

She turns back to find Azu laying there, propped up on her elbow, smiling up at Sasha.

“What?” Sasha asks. “Do I - do I got something on my face?” She starts scrubbing at her cheeks, but Azu just laughs.

“No, no, you don’t have anything on your face. I just - you’re lovely,” she says simply, blushing a bit, and Sasha stands there, frozen, until the compliment penetrates through her brain. 

“Oh, er - yeah, cheers, um - you too,” she stammers. “You’re - you’re real pretty, Azu, just - gorgeous, honestly, I don’t -“

Azu shifts up onto her knees and pulls Sasha into another kiss, this one slow and languid. She pulls back after a moment, and Sasha has to take a second to remember what she was saying.

“Breakfast,” she says, still trying to parse all of this. “We should. Yeah. Eat?”

Azu shakes her head, but she’s smiling fondly at Sasha as she clambers out of bed and gets changed as well. They’d mostly both fallen asleep in their clothes last night, so it hadn’t taken either of them long.

“You think, er - you think they’ll know?” Sasha asks, rubbing at the back of her neck, and Azu pauses as she’s pulling her socks up. 

“That depends,” she says, carefully keeping her voice neutral. “Do you want them to?” 

Sasha thinks for a moment. “No, I don’t mind. Them knowing, I mean. It’s alright, if they figure it out.”

“Okay,” Azu says, smiling. “I’m alright with that as well.”

They finish getting dressed and head down to breakfast; both of them are the last two awake and ready to go. They need to head out sometime this afternoon to get to the next place on their quest. 

They don’t walk into the small dining area of the inn hand-in-hand or anything, but Zolf and Grizzop are both too perceptive for their own good. Turns out, Zolf  _ and  _ Grizzop figure it out almost instantly after they walk in the room and, after a few loaded looks from Zolf, Hamid does too. Still, after one look from Sasha, all three of them don’t say anything - although she’s sure Zolf’s going to be having a conversation with her later. 

Now, though, it’s fine; and as Azu hooks her ankle around Sasha’s (the good one, obviously) under the table, Sasha can’t hide her small smile. 

Yeah. 

She’s fine.

**Author's Note:**

> you know what’s hot? consent
> 
> also dude i am Intently Watching that azu/sasha fic counter tick up if we actually re-become a fandom that has a femslash ship as the second most popular i Will Cry !!!!! esp bc then the top two ships would both include characters of color dude i will mcfuckin lose it!!!
> 
> anyways i’m ohallows on tumblr hmu w requests!!


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